Speaking to reporters after walking out of Loma Linda University Medical Center on Monday night, Hamlin wore a thick back brace and had difficulty breathing from the compression fracture of the L1 vertebra in his lower back.

Denny Hamlin's injury Sunday was the result of a last-lap crash with a hard-driving Joey Logano. (AP Photo)

Hamlin, according to USA Today, had not talked with Joey Logano since the crash, where the two drivers were battling for the lead Sunday before Logano slid into Hamlin on the final lap of the Auto Club 400.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s car turned and slid across the track before he hit the Auto Club Speedway inside wall head-on. Hamlin got out of his car and laid on the ground.

“Literally, when I felt a pop, I couldn't move at all and I knew I had to get flat to my back to be able to breathe again,” Hamlin told USA Today.

“That's why I rushed out and just laid flat on the ground to start breathing again."

Hamlin said he has not heard from Logano, who said Sunday he slid up into Hamlin while trying to maintain the lead but also that he was not going to let Hamlin win the race.

A week earlier at Bristol, Hamlin turned Logano after Logano cut in front of him for second. The two drivers exchanged words after the race.

"I really went out of my way throughout the day to give the 22 (of Logano) room in a lot of different places," Hamlin told USA Today.

"He raced me really hard for really the entire event and obviously other guys as well. At the end, I think he saw I was going to win and he wasn't going to let that happen.”

Hamlin flew home Monday night and plans to see Dr. Jerry Petty, a NASCAR consultant and neurologist. Petty will have to clear Hamlin in order for Hamlin to race.

Petty will determine whether Hamlin needs surgery and how long he must wait before he can race without risking making the injury worse. Hamlin also cannot race with heavy doses of pain medication.

"He's going to spend tomorrow looking at scans to distinguish what the next step is," Hamlin told USA Today. "We're kind of leaving the analyzing for him on what to do either surgery-wise or just stick with a brace and let it heal itself.

“Either way, obviously, both of them take a lot of time."

Hamlin is 10th in the Cup standings five races into the season. After 26 races, drivers in the top-10 plus the two drivers 11th-20th who have the most wins qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Theoretically, Hamlin could miss a few races and possibly be eligible for a wild card. He also could start a race and then a replacement driver finish it, which would still earn him points.

Hamlin said he would not risk further injuring his back.

"I don't want to make it worse," he said in the report. "It's not worth that."

The 32-year-old driver thanked his peers and the fans for their concern, and said that all racetrack walls should be covered by the energy-absorbing SAFER Barrier. Most tracks have them in the turns, but it varies from track to track as far as the inside walls.

"I'm sure when we go back there will be one there, and it's just unfortunate it takes wrecks like here and what we saw at Watkins Glen for them to kind of reconfigure these tracks where they need to be safety-wise," he told USA Today.